- National Museum of Korea
The National Museum of Korea is gigantic. It has all of the development of Korea from prehistoric times, plus art and cultural exhibits. There were a ton of National Treasures in the museum that included things like pottery, statues, and crowns. My particular favorites were the Joseon dynasty celadon pottery and the huge Buddhist painting from Bulseoksa. There was a Miryoku Bosatsu statue that's a National Treausre that was really awesome too. Definitely a good museum to go to to get a crash course in everything about Korea.
- Namdaemun Market
Namdaemun Market is pretty crazy. There are people everywhere on foot, in cars, and on motorbikes. They're selling things like clothes, food, and other items. I bought some Korean mochi and cookies that are great. The mochi has pumpkin and azuki in it. ^^ It's a little too crazy for me, but that's probably because I got my wallet stolen. After I bought the mochi, we walked out of the market and to a couple of department stores, and when I went to buy some shirts, I didn't have my wallet anymore. It gave me the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach when I couldn't find it. Luckily, I didn't lose my passport. After that, we went home so I could figure out what to do about credit cards and stuff. Most of that turned out okay.
- Sinchon
After that, Monique and I decided to go to Sinchon for dinner. (I felt really bad, but I was very determined to not let what happened ruin my trip.) We ended up eating at a restaurant called Heungham Naengmyeon. That was my first naengmyeon, which was good, but kind of bad to eat in cold weather since it's cold noodles.
Today:
- Cafe Pascucci
Monique and I actually didn't know each other very well before coming on this trip, so we have a lot to talk about, which is nice. So before meeting Sohee at noon, we walked around the streets to see what was around and stopped at a cafe for hot chocolate. Good conversation in a cute cafe with yummy dark chocolate. Ahhh~!
- Lunch with Sohee
We were able to meet with Sohee for the day and I really wanted to try samgyetang (Rice stuffed chicken soup). So Sohee took us to a restaurant that served it and I think it's my favorite thing I've eaten here so far. =D According to the person working at the restaurant, it will make us all pretty. XD
- Japanese Embassy
After lunch, we went to the Japanese Embassy to see what to do about losing my alien registration card. We weren't actually able to do anything there, but they told me to get a police report.
- Gyeongbokgung Palace
Next to the Embassy was Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was the main palace of the Joseon dynasty. It's pretty big, and there was a really nice man-made lake/pond that's really pretty. We also saw the 'changing of the guards' that they do each hour. You know how in Europe they have the guys who stand there and don't move no matter what? It's really like that, the only difference is that they're Korean and their outfits are way more colorful. After walking around the palace, Sohee had to go do some things at school, but school, so Monique and I were off on our own for a few hours...
- Changdeokgung Palace (with a tour)
We decided to go to Changdoekgung Palace, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. For this particular palace, you have to take a tour in order to get in, so we were able to get into the very last tour, which was in Korean. So basically, it was a self-guided tour. This palace is HUGE! We didn't see all of it and we spent over an hour with the tour. I'll actually have to review the pamphlet guide to make sense of everything we saw because we moved so fast. Amazing though. It's really nice, I wish I could see it while it's in season and the plants are nicer.
- Cheonggyecheon
After that tour, we headed to City Hall to meet with Sohee again. We went to a creek that's really well known in Korea. It's called Cheongyecheon. We walked right next to it about half of its length. Sohee told us that its a popular 'date course'. I wish I could have seen it with illuminations, but the architecture of it is really nice too. ^^
- Insadong
We went to Insadong following that, which I love. We started out by eating dinner. I had gopchang sundubu. (pig intestine tofu soup) I think that's another favorite for me. Mmmm. Insadong is a big shopping street, but not as crazy and disorganized as Namdaemun. (Almost everything is written in Korean, like the Starbucks, it's the only one in Korea written in Korean.) They sell a lot of traditional items and foods. (OMG the sweets. I'm definitely going back before I leave to stock up on some.) You can watch them make it and there are tons of street vendors selling everything from candy to hot dogs to tempura to odeng. We watched a man make noodles and another man pound mochi, and more men cut up slabs of sweets. My favorite thing of all though was these 3 guys making candy in a little booth. They were very loud and animated. Their sales pitch was to be loud and speak a mix of Korean and English. They were yelling about almonds from California and how they roll the candy around the nuts like "dong dong dong, or in English: rolling rolling rolling!!!" (This is done simultaneously with them giving a demonstration of how to roll it.) And then "Oh my gad!! Whaoo!" XD I was seriously laughing out loud. And one of them reminded me of the waffle-maker in Coffee Prince. Hahaha. Then we walk a little further and these older men are making the same candy in a very dignified way. Insadong is awesome. We ended out the night by going to Red Mango, a yogurt shop that Rie recommended I visit, and sharing a big yogurt. Then we were off to a department store to look at cds. I got Lee Soo Young's 4th album, which I'm listening to now as I type. Ahh, what a good day.
- Police Station
When I got back from the day out, I felt a lot better about the whole wallet situation. I still feel a little weird, but the woman who runs the guesthouse offered to take me to the police station to get a police report about my wallet. So we walked over to the police station and were able to talk about a lot of different things. It was the first time either of us had been to a police station, so we were both a little nervous. And there were a lot of police there. Seri was able to translate everything for me though. She also took a picture of me in the station with her phone. XD What an experience.
That's all for now, more to come!
